Genres
Collection
Publication
Description
Young Adult Fiction. Young Adult Literature. LGBTQIA+ (Fiction.) HTML: Starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist * YALSA Top Ten Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers * ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults List * 2017 Rainbow A sharply honest and moving debut perfect for fans of The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Ask the Passengers. Riley Cavanaugh is many things: Punk rock. Snarky. Rebellious. And gender fluid. Some days Riley identifies as a boy, and others as a girl. But Riley isn't exactly out yet. And between starting a new school and having a congressman father running for reelection in über-conservative Orange County, the pressure�??media and otherwise�??is building up in Riley's life. On the advice of a therapist, Riley starts an anonymous blog to vent those pent-up feelings and tell the truth of what it's really like to be a gender fluid teenager. But just as Riley's starting to settle in at school�??even developing feelings for a mysterious outcast�??the blog goes viral, and an unnamed commenter discovers Riley's real identity, threatening exposure. And Riley must make a choice: walk away from what the blog has created�??a lifeline, new friends, a cause to believe in�??or stand up, come out, and risk everything. From debut author Jeff Garvin comes a powerful and uplifting portrait of a modern teen struggling with high school, relationships, and what it means… (more)
User reviews
(I got an advanced reader copy of this book through an ARC tour for debut authors, but the copy carried no expectation or requirement that I review the book).
Good:
- Riley. As a character, I found Riley to be really great. They're super engaging and kind of unlikable, which makes you like them more. Sometimes they're kind of whiny and annoying, but they're a teen with some
- Ambiguity. I LOVE that Riley's "biological" sex is never revealed because it's really... kind of irrelevant.
- Solo. Another fantastic character. Ugh, I love him. What a guy.
Not-S0-Good:
- Bec. I really disliked her as a person. She... I don't know. I got some bad vibes from her and some of the things she did made me kind of squirmy.
- Internet Culture. ???????????????????????????????? It felt super idealized but also like it only existed as a plot device. I don't really mind the unrealistic internet culture but sometimes it made me roll my eyes a bit.
- The bullying. Listen. Listen. A lot of the "bad" characters in this book existed purely as villains and had no exterior motivations or fears, and were incredibly flat. And I get the book wasn't about them, but it could have *really* been elevated with some character development in this department. Also the *thing* that happens felt really out of place and unnecessary and I get that it happens in real life, but did it really have to happen here ?????????
All in all, I *really* liked Riley and Solo which made the rest of this book tolerable, and I like the message it sends and how it goes about gender fluidity, but it does come off kind of preachy and sensationalist at times.
But I liked it! I swear I did!